Michael Vick vs. Steve Young: Who Is Really Better?

Michael Vick vs. Steve Young: Who Is Really Better?

Recently, the offensive coordinator on the Philadelphia Eagles brought up the idea that Eagles QB Mike Vick could be better than legendary scrambling QB Steve Young.

Is this just exaggerated praise or is there actually some truth to that statement? This slideshow brings up some key points that have to be mentioned.

In Terms of Simply Rushing, Mike Vick Is Already Better

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Right now, Michael Vick has 4,630 career rushing yards after eight seasons. In Steve Young's entire 15 year career, he had 4,239 rushing yards. In almost half the time, Michael Vick has already blown past Steve Young's record and doesn't show signs of stopping.

He is also 11 rushing touchdowns away from tying Steve Young's all-time record for rushing touchdowns by a QB (43), a goal that he will almost surely reach barring severe injury.

It is obvious that Michael Vick has been able to get more done on his feet than Steve Young, partially shown by his career average of 7.1 ypc as opposed to Steve's 5.9.

It goes pretty much without saying that Michael Vick is already a far better rusher than Steve Young, and he's even broken the 1,000-yard rushing mark once in his career.

However, rushing is not all that needs to be considered here, especially because two QBs are being discussed, not two running backs.

In Terms of Passing, Steve Young Is Much Better

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In Steve Young's career, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 33,124 yards, 232 TDs, and only 107 INTs (21 of those came when he was on the *shudder* expansion Bucs).

In Mike Vick's career, he completed a very pedestrian 55 percent of his passes for 14,609 yards, 93 TDs, and 58 INTs.

Steve Young is one of the best passers ever to play football, with a career passer rating of 96.8. Michael Vick is not even one of the best passers today, with a career passer rating of 80.2.

While Michael Vick can obviously produce in the running game, he leaves something to be desired as a passer.

Although he improved his numbers in Philadelphia, completing over 60 percent of his passes for the first time in his career with 3,018 yards, 21 TDs, and 6 INTs, as of now Steve Young has a dominant edge in this category, and ultimately QBs are judged by how well they throw.

If Vick wants to be reasonably compared to Steve Young, he needs to have many more seasons that duplicate his 2010.

Steve Young Has Won a Super Bowl

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It had to be said. There's no doubt that Michael Vick is a playmaker and a winner. However, Steve Young was more of both. He was able to step out of Joe Montana's shadow to lead the 49ers to Super Bowl 30 and then throw 6 TD passes en route to a win.

Vick, while a dangerous player and one who can get his team to the playoffs, has never made it to the Super Bowl and threw the game-sealing interception to Tramon Williams this past season in a wild-card loss to the Packers.

While both QBs have had success in the playoffs over their careers, Steve Young has been able to perform better in the clutch and has a Super Bowl ring, while Vick has failed more than once in clutch situations, which must be fixed for them to be in the same discussion.

Final Verdict

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Mike Vick's got a long way to go. As of right now, Steve Young is far and away the better QB. He was an astounding pocket passer as well as scrambler, but Mike Vick hasn't learned to settle down yet.

Steve Young could make things happen on the ground as well, but what really makes it hard to believe that Vick could ever rival Young is that Young thinks as a passer first and a runner second but Vick thinks the other way around, which will not help him come even close to matching Steve's numbers.

With time, maybe Vick can improve his numbers and come closer to Young, but for now it seems hard to believe that Vick will ever be able to match up with Young as a passer and it is questionable whether he will be able to finish his career with a Super Bowl ring.